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06/04/2007
Bill
France, Jr. Dies at 74
His father may have
been the architect of NASCAR, but throughout his life, Bill France Jr.
proved to be the ultimate general manager.
His plaque at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame may put it
best: "Other than the founding of NASCAR itself, Bill Jr.'s appointment to
leadership is probably the most significant event in the history of the
sanctioning body."
France Jr.'s ability to transform his father's original vision into
something greater than the sum of its parts was his greatest accomplishment.
Under his three decades of leadership, NASCAR evolved from a regional sport
to one with a world-wide fan base. He was a trailblazer in the field of
corporate sponsorships and the guiding force behind a television contract
worth billions of dollars.
"In life you've got rules you have to live by, and you have to have
people to enforce those rules," France Jr. once said. "If you don't have
rules, you have chaos. Basically we are the government in the little country
of motorsports.
"Our rules are the statutes and the laws of this little country. To gain
and keep the confidence of everyone involved with NASCAR, those
participating need to know, as evidenced by our behavior, that the rules are
applicable to everyone and are enforced fairly."
France Jr. suffered a mild heart attack in 1997 while in Japan for a
NASCAR exhibition race, and was diagnosed with cancer in 1999. He has never
revealed what type of cancer he had.
Although his cancer was in remission, he handed off day-to-day duties of
running NASCAR to his son, Brian, in late 2003.
In March, France Jr. was admitted to Halifax Medical Center under the
care of his personal physicians but was released to his doctor's care.
William C. France, chairman of the board of directors for International
Speedway Corporation, died Monday at home. He celebrated his 74th birthday
in April.
Born in Washington, D.C., in 1933 but raised in Daytona Beach, Bill Jr.
was immersed in the sport of auto racing from the time he could talk. Being
the boss' son, that also meant a measure of responsibility.
After attending the University of Florida and a two-year stint in the
U.S. Navy, France Jr. returned to make racing promotion his full-time
occupation. He parked cars and sold concessions at the old beach and road
course, then took a hands-on approach to his father's dream of building a
superspeedway in the swampland west of Daytona Beach.
"We went seven days a week for 13 months to build the speedway," France
Jr. recalled. "We went from 7 in the morning to 7 at night, and worked in
the winter until it got dark."
In many cases, that meant operating the equipment himself.
"I ran a motor grader some and a bulldozer, but mostly I was on a
compactor," France Jr. said. "I did a little of this, that and the other. I
even had a mule out there one time pulling trees out of the swamp.
"Everything that was motorized back then got stuck in the swamp. I said,
let's try a mule. That didn't work either."
With miles of strip malls and restaurants along International Speedway
Blvd. today, it may be difficult to imagine how wild that tract of land
would have been 50 years ago.
"We'd have big piles of stumps that we had to burn," France Jr. said. "I
remember seeing a big rattlesnake out here one day. They asked me, 'Where
did you find him at?' I pointed to where I found it.
"This one man had an ax and he swung it into a stump and we heard
rattles buzzing all over the place. The area was full of snakes. We cleared
out of there pretty fast."
France Jr. had an uncanny ability to recognize potential growth and take
advantage of those opportunities. While in the service, he developed a
relationship with Californian Bob Barkheimer, a move which strengthened
NASCAR's ties to the west coast.
He loved motorcycles and competed in the Baja 1000, which led to the
addition of a motocross race at Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona
Supercross is now one of the highest-attended events at the track and
correlated with the growth of Daytona's Bike Week.
France Jr. served as vice president of NASCAR for six years before his
father retired in 1972. France Jr. negotiated a deal with R.J. Reynolds
Tobacco Co. to sponsor NASCAR's top-tier series, then went after television
partners to expose his product to potential fans.
Following successful ratings for flag-to-flag coverage of the Daytona
500 by CBS in 1979, France Jr. was able to leverage the broadcast rights to
the point where he negotiated a $2.4 billion contact with FOX, NBC and
Turner Sports for the 2001 season.
Jim Hunter, former president of Darlington Raceway, said France Jr. was
open to suggestions but only to a point.
"Bill always let you speak your peace," Hunter said. "And if you
disagreed with him that was OK, if he thought you had a good reason. But he
had a way of looking at you over his glasses after a while, and when he did
that you knew he'd had about enough of you. Bill France didn't lose many
arguments."
Still, France Jr. never lost sight of what made NASCAR popular in the
first place: its drivers.
"If you go back and look and think about it, NASCAR started off in 1948
with a group of racecar drivers who were in their 20s and 30s and started
racing," France Jr. said. "They all came up together, and then they went out
together. Then you had the Fireball Robertses of the world ... but then came
David Pearson and Richard Petty. Then came Darrell Waltrip.
"I remember when Waltrip put out a statement that said the old guys
better watch out because there are some new kids in town. Then came the time
when he had to step back. So this is another cycle we're going through now,
that's all."
Source: NASCAR.com
Posted:
June 4, 2007
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